MLB Trade Rumors: Giancarlo Stanton To St. Louis Cardinals? Meeting With Team Confirmed

Over the past several weeks, the MLB trade rumors involving Giancarlo Stanton have really heated up as two teams have seemed to emerge as frontrunners. One of those teams is the San Francisco Giants, who were nowhere near contending this past MLB season, but have had talks with the Miami Marlins regarding a trade. Giant’s team officials have also met with Stanton’s representatives. The St. Louis Cardinals’ team officials are looking to have discussions with his reps next, which could be one step closer to putting him in their jersey.

On Friday night, ESPN‘s Buster Olney confirmed that Giancarlo Stanton’s representatives have “received approval for a meeting with the Cardinals.” However, as of this time, it’s unknown when exactly that meeting will take place to discuss Stanton possibly joining St. Louis next MLB season. Sources told ESPN that the Miami Marlins need to let Major League Baseball know they are close to making a trade before any meetings can take place, though.

When compared to the Giants, the St. Louis Cardinals would make for much more of a contender for Giancarlo Stanton to join. They finished at 83-79 last season and were third in the National League’s Central division. The Cardinals failed to make the playoffs but were just four or five games outside of claiming the second NL Wild Card spot.

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Stanton led Major League Baseball in home runs last season with 59 total. He also led in Runs Batted in, besting Colorado’s Nolan Arenado by two RBIs. St. Louis finished at No. 13 in MLB in overall batting with 761 total runs while Miami was several spots above them on the listing. One would think that a team such as the San Francisco Giants would gain a lot more by pulling off an MLB trade for Stanton, though, as they finished towards the bottom of most of the hitting stats.

It’s also been mentioned that Stanton wouldn’t mind joining the Los Angeles Dodgers. They were on the cusp of winning the World Series this past postseason, only to fall to the Houston Astros. Adding Stanton to a lineup that already includes plenty of power would be quite a coup. However, the Giants and Cardinals want to make sure they add that power to their roster and based on the fact both teams have engaged in talks, it seems more likely to happen.